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Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, has hailed the new mechanical and industrial engineering laboratory at the University of Technology (UTech) as a game changer for the manufacturing sector.

The facility has been upgraded to an Industry 4.0 lab, equipped with a metal 3D printer, to prepare students for the practical demands of today’s industries.

The state-of-the-art equipment, valued at almost US$1 million, was acquired through support from the Lloyd Carney Foundation, headed by the globally renowned information technology (IT) engineer, entrepreneur and venture capital investor, who was appointed the institution’s Third Chancellor with effect from August 22, 2022.

“This is fabulous; you don’t see this anywhere else in the region. We have it here. It has been installed and we are going to be able to teach our students using this. This is a game changer in terms of manufacturing,” Dr. Morris Dixon told JIS News during a tour of the institution’s Papine campus on Tuesday (April 16).

Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing is a method that creates three-dimensional objects from a digital design by layering material such as plastics, metals, and resins on top of each other.

It is a process of building objects with intricate detail and complex geometries, step-by-step, as opposed to traditional manufacturing methods that often involve removing material from a block.

“This is stuff that you see in Europe or you see in China, and it is here at the University of Technology,” Dr. Dixon said, expressing pleasure that students are being equipped with crucial technological, creativity and innovation skills.

The Minister’s visit to UTech was to gain first-hand knowledge of the facilities and the strategic direction of the University as it move towards transitioning fully to a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) institution.

The Government is on a drive to implement STEM reforms across all educational levels.

Dr. Morris Dixon observed research utilising plants from the Cockpit Country to address health issues in Jamaica and the wider world.

“Jamaica is doing well. There are good things going on. You see these young people here and what they are working on, You see the technology and the kind of scientific experiments being done here at UTech; that is revolutionary,” she said.

Minister Morris Dixon told JIS News that she was excited about work being undertaken in hospitality.

“These are not just theoretical projects,” she said, noting that the students are trying to “solve the problems in tourism”.

“You have a world-class hospitality programme, and world-class manufacturing equipment that is not anywhere in our region, which is showing you that UTech is going places, ” the Minister said.